“Cathy” has been a staple of the newspaper funnies for 34 years, a legacy that has been collected in 30 books. The first strip ran in 1976 and currently has a home in 1,400 newspapers. It has appeared in the Tribune since March 1977.

Despite the cultural sensation the sighing brunette has become, her beginnings were much humbler. Guisewite had just started working as an advertising writer in Detroit when she starting sending her mother drawings that explained what was happening in her life and her feelings.

To appease her mother, who strongly believed the drawings could be a serialized strip, Guisewite sent a couple of her comics to Universal, a features syndication service. Universal immediately sent a contract back to Guisewite, and in seven months “Cathy” was in newspapers.

I’m clearly not the strip’s target audience, but I’m guessing many readers of various stripes found it hopelessly outdated (it’s a regular object of ridicule by the awesome Comics Curmudgeon).

What do you think about “Cathy?” Will you miss it, or say, “good riddance?”